AI, EDS, and the Decade-Long Diagnostic Gap with Dr Dacre Knight

Send us Fan MailA decade of chronic pain and chronic fatigue with “normal” results is not just a medical problem, it is a systems problem. I’m joined by Dr Dacon Knight, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, to unpack why hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and related connective tissue disorders still slip through the cracks, even when the signs have been there for years.We explore what clinicians should look for beyond a single aching joint: instability, subluxations, dislocations, fatigue, and the way connective tissue can affect multiple organ systems from gut to lungs to nerves. We also get honest about the diagnostic odyssey, why imaging can mislead, and how the lack of a definitive genetic test for hEDS forces diagnosis to depend on clinical pattern recognition and experience. That gap in training is where many patients lose time, confidence, and trust.From there, we move into what good care can look like when it is genuinely multidisciplinary: physical therapy, occupational therapy, specialist collaboration, and mental health support that recognises the stress and harm caused by years of dismissal. Dr Knight then shares how his team is using AI in healthcare research and clinical decision support, including work on large patient datasets, the possibility of voice signatures as biomarkers, and digital twin models for education and safer experimentation.If you care about earlier diagnosis, better chronic illness care, and practical uses of machine learning that improve real lives, subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the one change you want to see in how we handle chronic pain.Guest BiographyDr Dacre Knight is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia and Medical Director of the UVA Health Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Center. His work focuses on complex chronic illness, connective tissue disorders, multidisciplinary care, and the use of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis, research, and patient outcomes. Contact DetailsWebsite: https://uvahealth.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dacre-knight-md-ms-facp-9b279a61/Subscribe on SubstackVoices in Health and Wellness is published on Substack, as part of The Diagnostician. Every episode lands there with written notes and reflections you won't find in the podcast feed. Free to subscribe.👉 https://thediagnostician.substack.com/s/voices-in-health-and-wellnessAbout the podcastVoices in Health and Wellness features conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential, with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.About Dr Andrew GreenlandUK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. Trained in both conventional and root-cause approaches, Andrew helps people optimise health, performance, and longevity, with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.